Structure-based approach to rationally design a chimeric protein for an effective vaccine against Group B Streptococcus infections.

ABSTRACT: Structural vaccinology is an emerging strategy for the rational design of vaccine candidates. We successfully applied structural vaccinology to design a fully synthetic protein with multivalent protection activity. In Group B Streptococcus, cell-surface pili have aroused great interest because of their direct roles in virulence and importance as protective antigens. The backbone subunit of type 2a pilus (BP-2a) is present in six immunogenically different but structurally similar variants. We determined the 3D structure of one of the variants, and experimentally demonstrated that protective antibodies specifically recognize one of the four domains that comprise the protein. We therefore constructed a synthetic protein constituted by the protective domain of each one of the six variants and

SUBMITTER: Nuccitelli A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3121859 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature